Specialized Roubaix Expert 2017

Price AU$5,300

Description

Every crack, every pothole, every rough patch and bit of chip seal—the off-limits boneshakers to the smoothest homestretches—the Roubaix isn't resigned to a single day in France, it's made for every road, everywhere. And for models with the all-new Future Shock, rides are now even smoother and even faster.

We always knew that smoother was faster, but before the all-new Roubaix Expert, we couldn't have imagined just how much faster it actually is. The frame is the lightest that we've ever made, and it's been constructed from our FACT 10r carbon fiber. Its stiffness levels are also off the charts, and compared to the SL4 iteration of yesteryear, you'll experience a whole new, faster, and more efficient geometry. Through some engineering sorcery, however, we've managed to keep the same fit, feel, and position that we've all come to love from the SL4. Of course, you're probably thinking, "get on to the suspension thing up front." We call it Future Shock, and essentially, it's a piston in the head tube with 20mm of travel. We developed this technology in partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies, and the result of this are a host of drastic performance improvements, namely in the vertical compliance department. Without giving a physics lecture, we found that focusing on vertical compliance, instead of fork splay, meant that we could improve smoothness, speed, and comfort in one fell swoop. And of all the bikes that we've tested with our Rolling Efficiency Model, the new Roubaix outperforms anything on the market. Lastly, we spec'd it with awesome components, like Ultegra 6800 11-speed shifting, hydraulic disc brakes, and ultra-tough DT R460 Disc Pro wheels.

Featuring our Rider-First Engineered™ design that ensures every frame size has the same legendary responsiveness and smooth ride quality that you'd expect from a Roubaix. The FACT 10r frameset is exceptional in every way, offering the ideal blend of light overall weight and targeted stiffness. Meanwhile, the all-new Future Shock "suspension" system at the cockpit delivers a revolutionary degree of comfort and control.

A Roubaix Disc fork is built from our top-end FACT 11r carbon fiber for supreme stiffness, strength, and reactivity, while a thru-axle design only stands to bolster all of the above.

Shimano BR-805 hydraulic disc brakes deliver smooth modulation and lever feel, and more importantly, incredible stopping power in any condition.

Comes equipped with a 40lbs spring (color: yellow, weight: firm) installed, and also includes both 13lbs (color: blue, weight: soft) and 25lbs (color: black, weight: medium) springs that can be installed to match the terrain you're riding.